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With the car he has had over the last couple of years he should have at least one 2-3 grand prix.

Strangely, he did much better in a Lotus in 2012-13. His performance in 2012 was specially impressive considering the guy took a vacation leave from F1 for what, like two years? He comes back in 2012 in a midfield car and races as if he hasn't missed a race, much less a whole season, two seasons, takes podiums seven times, and wins a race. That was really impressive. Lotus went bankrupt trying to pay him, because Kimi's pay was tied to performance. Nobody expected then that he could do so well, so if I recall Lotus ended owing him something like 16-18 million USD just for that season (more than what Vettel was being paid at that time).

I don't consider it strange. Results aren't always a result of straight out talent. How a driver mixes within a team and their status within it contributes.

With Raikkonen. He'd have a much bigger presence within lotus, therefore his qualities would make a bigger contribution to the results. At Ferrari, he's a smaller piece of the puzzle. Therefore his abilities contribute less to this results.

There heaps of examples where drivers are affected differently moving to different teams, or a change of teammate, or other piece of the puzzle.

I don't consider it strange. Results aren't always a result of straight out talent. How a driver mixes within a team and their status within it contributes.

With Raikkonen. He'd have a much bigger presence within lotus, therefore his qualities would make a bigger contribution to the results. At Ferrari, he's a smaller piece of the puzzle. Therefore his abilities contribute less to this results.

There heaps of examples where drivers are affected differently moving to different teams, or a change of teammate, or other piece of the puzzle.

To a certain extent there is some foundation for what you post but on the other hand, the best drivers will overcome whatever piece of the puzzle they are and rise to the top. Raikkonen is clearly unable to do this. He's simply not up to the task. You can make excuses for a while, maybe even a year or so but he's clearly the slower of the two Ferrari drivers by a country mile.

To a certain extent there is some foundation for what you post but on the other hand, the best drivers will overcome whatever piece of the puzzle they are and rise to the top. Raikkonen is clearly unable to do this. He's simply not up to the task. You can make excuses for a while, maybe even a year or so but he's clearly the slower of the two Ferrari drivers by a country mile.

Well, until recently Fernando Alonso was available. Looks like he will now stay at McLaren. Take your pick of whom would be better - Sainz definitely wouldn't be any worse, Paul Di Resta would certainly be better were he allowed a come back, his stock has always been very high and it's still tragic imo the the doesn't have a top level racing seat.

Well, until recently Fernando Alonso was available. Looks like he will now stay at McLaren. Take your pick of whom would be better - Sainz definitely wouldn't be any worse, Paul Di Resta would certainly be better were he allowed a come back, his stock has always been very high and it's still tragic imo the the doesn't have a top level racing seat.

Alonso was not going to be available until the engine question was resolved one way or the other. And, while I respect your opinion on Di Resta, it would seem that the decision makers don't. Who else have you got?

There's a rumour that Vettel's contract would've blocked Alonso. Clearly Ferrari's recruitment policy is not based on selecting the driver who will upset Vettel the most. The exact opposite in fact.

Of course, because Vettel wants a slower drive in 2nd spot. He knows that he is weak when provided with equal machinery to someone else and he is afraid of being challenged within his own team.

Originally Posted by Starter

Alonso was not going to be available until the engine question was resolved one way or the other. And, while I respect your opinion on Di Resta, it would seem that the decision makers don't. Who else have you got?

There was no reason for Ferrari to not wait until contract negotiations with McLaren were complete before announcing Kimi. Kimi has made it clear that he doesn't want to go anywhere else so there was no rush. You can explain every option I give up with the decision makers not agreeing. I say Di Resta and Alonso and am sticking by it. Though to add, even Kubica would probably be better or Sainz. To be fair, I think most other drivers on the grid would do a better job than Kimi.

There was no reason for Ferrari to not wait until contract negotiations with McLaren were complete before announcing Kimi. Kimi has made it clear that he doesn't want to go anywhere else so there was no rush. You can explain every option I give up with the decision makers not agreeing. I say Di Resta and Alonso and am sticking by it. Though to add, even Kubica would probably be better or Sainz. To be fair, I think most other drivers on the grid would do a better job than Kimi.

I'd say that several other drivers on the grid have the potential to be better than Kim, but are not there yet.